Double-duty French has successful day

But it’s a rarity when an athlete pulls double-duty in two tournaments on the same day.

In the first day of the Lima City Men’s Golf Championship on Tuesday, Brandon French shot a 76, the eighth-best score of the championship flight, en route to qualifying for match play.

Then, a couple hours after playing 18 holes of golf in hot and humid conditions, French then traveled to the Collett Street Courts, where he competed in the Lima City Singles Tennis Tournament.

On the tennis court, French bested Isaac Elston 7-5, 6-0 in first-round action to advance in the tournament.

On Tuesday at the Lima City Singles Tournament, men opened play. Today, the women take to the court, along with the seeded men players.

All the seeded men had a bye on the first day of the tournament.

French, a former standout at Lima Central Catholic and now a senior on the golf team at Fairleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey), said fatigue was a factor on Tuesday.

“I was kind of tired playing in this (tennis) match after hitting a lot of shots on the golf course today,” French said, with a smile. “That was too bad. Usually they (the two tournaments) don’t overlap each other. But this year, it’s the way it is.”

After a hard-fought first set, French finally took control of his match against Elston.

“I was hitting my forehand pretty good,” French said. “I was serving pretty well. He kept coming to the net, making me hit some backhands in the first set, which I was struggling to do. Then in the second set I started hitting more forehands and started playing a little better.”

Today, the second day of the Lima City Singles Tournament, No. 1 seed Jeff Brown will take on Zach Schroeder in a quarterfinal.

As far as taking home hardware in both tournaments this week, French is being realistic about his odds.

“I think it would be more realistic in golf, than in tennis, because I’ve played (tennis) three times in the last two years,” French said. “So, I’m out here to kind of have fun. I still have one more year of college golf, so it (to win the tournament) would be nice.”